Drag conveyer



Feb. 24, 1931.

F. E. DHUMY ETAL 1,793,953

DRAG CONVEYER Filed Jan. 20, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet l um/atom FE dl/umy, B.Bea dsley, and lausz'as Feb. 24, 1931.

F. E. DHUMY ETAL ,9 3

DRAG CONVEYER Filed Jan. 20. 1930 4 Sheets-Sfieet 2 Snvwtow FE df/umg,

Feb. 424, 1931.

F. E. D'HUMY ETAL 1,793,953

DRAG CONVEYER File'd Jan. 20. 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 auventow E E,'d'humy, B Beards/ea ,94

Patented Feb. 24, 1931 UNITED STATES ,reaeta PAll'E FEENAND E. DHUMY, OFSCARSDALE, BRUCE BEA-BIDSLEY Uh" HHUOKLYN, AND ANDEB PLAUS IGS, OFBRONX, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB-S T THE WESTERN "UNION TELEGRAPH GGMPANY, OFNEW YORK, N. Y., A. CQEPORATEQ N NEW YORK mane converse.

ppliqation filed January a0, 1930. terlal We.

This invention relates to an endless belt conveyer, particularly fortransporting sheet inlgterial, such as letters, telegrams, and the Inlarge telegraph oflices it is customary to route the telegram blanksfrom one part of the ofice to another by means of endless beltconveyors, 'lhe conveyors may comprise a flat horizontal Wide belt uponwhich the telegrams are carried in a fiat or horizontal position, a ti-trough conveyor in which they are transported in a vertical or on edgeposition, a double strap conveyor having contact surfaces between "whichthe telegrams are conveyed,or a multiple cord conveyor having thealternate cords disposed on opposite sides of the message'blanlr. All oithese conveyer systems have been used extensively, together with meansfor automatically transferring as" the telegram blanhs from a conveyerof one type'to a conveyer of another type.

The present invention relates to still another type of conveyerparticularly adapted for this service; one of the objects being to atprovide an endless conveyer which is less enpensive ftoimanufactnre andinstall than said foregoing systems, which may be operated at a highspeed, which permits sheet material to be conveyed in a vertical,horizontal, or inclined direction and in which the direction at travelmay be readily changed.

Another object is to provide a conveyer em ploying but a single belt forconveying sheet till ' directions,

lit)

Another object is to devise means for in troducing sheet material intothe conveyor or for transferring sheet articles from an other type ofconveyer into our resent corveyer system or from one part 0' the presentsystem to another,

@ther objects and advantages will appear from the following' descriptiontaken in con nection With the drawings and the appended claims Inaccordance with our invention We eniploy a single endless belt and Wedrag the belt along its main or operating run against a stationarysupport, the material being conveyed between the belt and the support.The support is so shaped. or other means pro vided for bending the sidesof the sheet mate rial out of the plane of the belt in such direction asto cause the mid portion of the sheet material to be pressed intoengagement with the belt, so as to maintain it in continpous frictionalengagement with the belt over'horizontal, vertical, or inclined runs.The bend ing of the sides of the paper or other sheet material out ofthe plane of the belt also prevents the material from shifting laterallyWith respect to'the belt and hence Working out from between the belt andsupport over long runs. The support may be so shaped. or auaih iarymeans provided for guiding the belt over extended runs. in the preferredembodiment, We employ a belt of a width considerably less than the Widthof the sheet mate rial to be conveyed and drag the belt along;

a narrow stationary flat trough having out wardly flaring sides Theflaring sides oi the trough serve to keep the sheet articles fromWorking out from under the belt at either side thereof, and

distort the material from a flat plane in to a concave form and therebyincrease the Eriction or grip between the belt and the articlea Thetrough also serves a guide and support lor'the belt.

Whenever it is desired to change the direction of travel of theconveyor, the daring; sides oi? the trough are bent into the plane ofthe base of the trough, slightly in advance of the bend, and the base ofthe trough is cut away at the bend to enable the belt to engage With adirection changing pulley or roller. v

The belt may be provided at intervals with Ill Elli

' ring the articles from one the flaring 'to assume a concave shape. Thetrough forms the belt,

clearing out members which engage any of the artlcles which may havebecome temporarily stuck along the conveyer, as by static or by meetingan obstruction, and to advance.

such articles along to the end of the conveyer.

The articles may be fed into the conveyer from a chute or anotherconveyer of the same or different type, and they may be delivered fromthe conveyer-into a tray or into Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustrationof a conveyer system embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective vlew of a straight portion of the conveyer;

Figure 3 is a sectional view ofthe conveyer taken on the line 3-3 ofFigure 1;

Figures 4, 5 and 6 are similar sectional views, showing modifications ofthe cross section of the trough;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the conveyer at a right angle bend;

Figure 8 is a perspective vie w showing'a brea occurring in the belt ofthe conveyer system, illustrating the method of transfer portion of theconveyer to another; 7

Figure 9 is a perspective view illustrating the manner of transferringthe sheet articles from a V-trough conveyer into the drag conveyer;

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 9 and showing an intermediatedouble strap conveyer between the V-trough conveyer and the dragconveyer;

Figures 11 and 12 are perspective views of I a fragment of the belthaving clearing-out members attached thereto; and

Fugue 13 is a perspective view showing an arrangement for reversing theI channel and sheet article relative to the belt.

Referring first to Figures 2 and 3, it will be seen that the conveyercomprises a belt 20 traveling in a trough or channel 21, having a base22 and outwardly diverging side walls 23. The telegram blanks theconveyer between the belt 20 and the chanml, the belt being of a widthconsiderabl less than that of the telegram blanks, and the sides of thetelegram blanks extending over or diverging side walls 23 so. as

a support and a guide for the belt and, as stated, before, the flaringsides 23 prevent the articles from working out from beneath as they arecarried along thereby.

In Figure 1, the conveyer system comprises the belt 20, ofendless form,which, starting at the roller 24,

asses, in the direction of the arrows, vertical y upward in the trough25, thence around a roller 26 and horizontally in the trough 27, thencearound a roller 28 position of the F T are deposited in f and verticallydownward in the trough '29, to Q the outlet end 30 of the system. Thebelt then continues a return ath around the pulleys 31 to 40, to the puley 24. The return length ofv the belt may be guided in and be supportedby the trough sections 41, 42 and 43. The inlet end of the conveyer, forarticles passing from left to right, is at the point 44 between the belt20 and the roller 24, and the articles introduced at this point aredragged along the troughs 25, 27 and 29 by thebeltand discharged fromthe conveyer at the point 30. The articles to be transportec l fromright to left may be introduced into the conveyer between, the belt 20and the roller 33, at the-point 45, and be similarly dragged along thetroughs 41, 42 and 43 and discharged from the opposite end of theconveyer, at the point 46.

The troughs are deformed adjacent to the direction changing rollers 26,28, 34 and 35 to facilitate the passage of the telegrams or otherarticles around the rollers. v This deformation is indicated at 47, inFigure 1 and is shown in detail in Figures 7, 9, 10 and 13, as willappear more fully hereinafter.

The base of the trough may belflat and in contact with the belt throughits entire width, as shown in Figure 3, or it may have the centralportion thereof provided with a groove or channel 48, as shown inFigures 4 and 6, in order to reduce the area of contact of the belt withthe trough and thereby reduce the friction between them.

In Figure 5 the trough is shown with a concave cross section so that thebelt contacts therewith only at the margins of the belt. Obviously,other cross sectional forms of the conveyer may be employed and theconveyer may be provided with ribs or similar means for reducing thearea of contact thereof with the belt. The forms of construction shownin igures 4, 5 and 6 also reduce the frictionbetween the articlesto beconveyed and the trough so that they are more easily moved along by thetraveling belt. I

When it is desired to change the direction of travel of the conveyer, asfor instance, to orm a right angled bend in the conveyer, the

side walls 23 of the trough 50 are gradually bend, into the plane of thebase as shown at 51 in Figure 7 and the trough section may terminate at.such point, being continued around the bend by an adjoining troughsection 52. The section of trough 52 has the base portion thereof cutaway as at 53 to enable a feed roller 54 to contact with the belt 20.The spaced side flanges of the trough 52 adjacent to the cut awayportion 53 are flattened out and bent into an arcuate surface coincidingwith that of the face of the roller 54. The terminating end of theconveyer section 51 is disposed over the arcuate ends 55 of the channel52. The channel 52 beyond the bend has the side flanges 23 graduallybent into their normal diverging position.

In long conveyer systems, it is not advisable to employ a single beltextending from end to end of the system and returning upon itself, dueto the power required to drive the same, the strength of the beltrequired, expansion and contraction of the system, and the like, and itis customary, therefore, to break up the conveyer belt into a number ofshorter lengths. At the point where two of such lengths adjoin, it isnecessary to provide some means for feeding the blank or other articleacross the gap between the adjacent terminating belt lengths, and inFigure 8 we have shown an arrangement for this purpose. The twoadjoining belt sections are indicated in this figure at 56 and 57, thearticles being transferred from the belt 56 to the belt 57. The troughmay be continuous past the break, but we have shown same as consistingof two separate sections 58 and 59. The section 58, with which the belt56 cooperates, has its side flanges flattened out, at 60, slightly inadvance of the end of the belt 56 and the base of the channel 58 is cutaway from a point in advance of the end of the belt 56 to a point beyondthe adjacent end of the belt 57. An auxiliary belt 61, passing aroundpulleys 62 and 63, is arranged beneath the trough so as to travel in thecut-away portion of the base in contactwith the straps 56 and 57. Thebelt 61 serves to carry the telegram blank across the break occurringbetween the belts 56 and 57, and to convey the same in between the belt57 and the trough. The end of the trough section 59 is flattened out anddisposed beneath the end of the trough section 58. The belts 56 and 57pass around direction reversing pulleys 64 and 65 and return parallel totheir operating runs.

In Figure 9 we have shown an arrangement for transferring the telegraphblanks from a i -trough conveyer to the drag conveyer. The li -troughconveyer consists of a trough 66 having a substantially V-shaped crosssection with a belt 67 traveling along the base thereof, the articlesbeing conveyed along the trough-in a vertical position. At the end ofthe conveyer a downwardly extending chute 68 is provided through whichthe articles drop, the outlet end, 69 of the chute being curved so'as todischarge the articles in an inclined direction u n the belt 70 at thepoint of contact thereo with'a pulley 71, so that the articles arecarried around the pulley and fed into position between the belt and thechannel 72 of the drag conveyer section. lit will be noted that the sidewalls of the trough 7 2 are flattened out and extended beyond the baseportion thereof and curved along ends of the pulley l, at 73, so as notto i with the increment of the articlrias en the trough and the belt.

if c esir e chute 68 discharge into a double strap conveyer as shown inFigure 10, which in turn feeds into the drag con- 75, 76, 77 and 78 anda second belt 79 which passes around the pulley 77 and then verticallyupward in contact with a portion of the belt 7 4; The belt 79 continuesupwardly in contact with the trough 80 and forms a part of the dragconveyer. The articles discharged from the chute 68 are engaged by thebelts 74 and 79 and carried thereby up to the lower end of the trough 80and thence along the trough by the belt 79.

The articles sometimes adhere to the trough, due to static or friction,and in order to force such articles to the end of the conveyer, we mayprovide, at intervals along the belt, a clearing-out member which maytake one of various forms, two of which are shown in Figures 11 and 12.The clearing-out member shown in Figure 11 comprises a strap 81, ofleather or other similar material, riveted as at 82, on the side thereofin contact with the trough. The clearing-out member shown in Figure 12consists of a cleat or strap 83, of suitable material, such as leather,extending crosswise of the belt and securedthereto, as by some adhesivematerial, or by being sewed thereto, as shown at 84. The clearing-outmembers engage any of the articles stuck in the conveyer and push themthrough the con-- veyer to the end thereof.

It isobvious that along horizontal runs of the conveyer, the belt shouldrest upon the top side of the trough, in order that the trough may serveas a support-for the belt and so that the belt will remain in frictionalcontact therewith. It will also be evident that where two right anglebends are made in the conveyer so as to produce a vertical portionintermediate two horizontal portions extend; ing parallel to each otherand in the same direction from the intermediate portion, that the beltwould be disposed above the trough section of one horizontal portion andbelow the trough section of the other horizontal portion. In Figure 13-we have shown anarrangement for enabling the channel to be reversedrelative to the belt and thus permit two such right angle bends to beformed in the conveyer system with the belt resting upon both troughsections. The lower horizontal portion of the conveyer has vertically atthe roller 67, the base of the trough being cut away at 88 and the backof the trough facing to the left. The belt 89 passes around the rollerand vertically up ward in contact wili the vertical portion at thetrough section 86. The belt 89 is can tinned beyond the end oi thetroug' around roller L and thence baclr pi ll. senor. belt ill pr arounda or otherwise secured to the belt 20 a a trough 86 bent er 92 andvertically upward in contact with the belt 89, between the rollers 90and 92 and "with the upper horizontal trough 95. It will be noted thatthis construction permits the terms of the belts 89 and 9lto, bedisposed along the horizontal runs above the channels 86 and 95.

In the foregoing specification and in the claims where the term sheetmaterial is employed, it is'to be understood as including either asingle sheet, a plurality of superimposed sheets, either loose orsecured together, or enclosed in an envelope or other wrapping, or toany object of the same general nature.

It is obvious that various other changes, modifications, and adaptationsof the system will occurto those skilled in the art, and we desire toinclude all such changes within the scope of our invention as comewithin the appended claims.

at we claim is:

1. A drag conveyer comprising a stationary channel having a base andoutwardly flaring sides and a belt of a width less than the width ofsaid channel, positioned in said channel and arranged to travel thereinin frictional contact with the base, to convey sheet material along saidchannel, beneath said belt.

2. A conveyer for sheet material comprising a stationary longitudinallyextending support, a belt supported upon said support and adapted totravel in contact therewith, whereby said sheet material may be conveyedintermediate said belt and support by trictional engagement with saidbelt and means for causing said sheet material to assume a non-planiformshape transversely of said support.

3. A conveyer for sheet material'compris ing a stationary trough havingoutwardly flaring sides, a belt having a width substantially less thanthe width of said sheet mateb rial arranged within said trough betweensaid sides, whereby, when said sheet material is introduced into saidconveyer between said belt and trough, the ends of said materialprojecting beyond the sides of said belt will be bent out of the planeof the belt, said belt being adapted to travel insaid trough and toconvey said material along the trough by frictional contact with thebelt.

' 4. A. conveyer for sheet material comprising trough sections disposedat an angle to each other and having an end of one section adjacent theend of another, a direction reversing roller at the junction of saidtrough sections, a belt passing around said roller and disposed withinsaid trough sections and adapted to travel therein, the sides of saidmesses v trough sections being bent substantially into the plane of thebelt adjacent said roller.

5. A conveyer for sheet material comprising a stationary trough and abelt arranged to travel therein in frictional contact with said troughbetween which said sheet material may be conveyed, a roller for saidbelt distravel, means for introducing sheet material into both said mainand return runs between said troughs and belt, and means for dischargingsaid sheet material from each of said runs.

7. A conveyer for sheet material comprising a stationary trough, anendless belt having an operating run adapted to travel in said trough,the sides of said trough extending beyond the sides of said belt, aroller for said belt adjacent an end of said trough, the sides of thetrough terminating adjacent the ends of said roller, within theperiphery thereof, whereby when said sheet material is introducedbetween the belt and the roller it will be conveyed intermediate saidbelt and trough.

8. A conveyer for sheet material comprising a stationary longitudinallyextending support, having a base and outwardly extending sides, a beltresting upon said support intermediate said sides and adapted to travelthereon for conveying sheet material along said support by frictionalcontact with said belt, means adjacent one end of said conveyer forintroducing sheet material between said belt and. support, and means atthe opposite end of the conveyer for discharging said sheet materialfrom between said belt and support, said belt being of a widthsubstantially less than the width of the material to e conveyed, wherebysaid material will extend beyond the sides of said belt over the sidesof said support.

9. A conveyer system for sheet material comprising a pair of troughsections disposed end to end at an angle to each other, a rollerpositioned at the junction of said trough sections, an endless beltpassing around said roller and adapted to travel in said troughsections, means for introducing sheet material into said conveyer at oneend thereof between said belt and one of said trough sections, saidtrough sections being shaped adjacent said roller topermit said materialto be conveyed from one trough section to the other.

10.. A conveyer for sheet material comprising a trough. having a baseand outwardly flaring sides, a roller disposed at each end of saidtrough, a belt arranged in said trough lite measles base for conveyingsheet material between the belt and base, said base being continuouslongitudinally of said belt and contacting with a portion only of saidbelt transversely thereof. 1

12. A conveyer system for sheet material comprising two trough sectionsdisposed at an angle to each other, a roller positioned at the junctionof said trough sections with the base of said sections substantiallytangent to the periphery of said roller, a belt arranged in said troughsections with the sides of said trough extending outwardly therefrom andpassing around said roller, the base of one of said trough sectionsbeing cut away adjacent the roller and the sides of said troughextending partially around the roller at the sides thereof substantiallyin the plane of the belt and terminating adjacent the sides of the othertrough sections. 1 v 13. A conveyor for sheet material comprising twotrough sections arranged end to end, a belt positioned in each of saidsections in frictional contact therewith, said troughs each having abase and two outwardly diverging said walls, one of said trough sectionshaving the base cut-away adjacent the adjoining trough section andhaving the side walls bent into the plane of the belt and extending overthe side walls of the adjoining trough section, and means protrudingthrough said cut-away portion adapted to move therein for assisting theconveyance of said'material from'one trough section to the other.

14. A conveyer for sheet material comprising two endless belts havingend rollers dis posed side by side in spaced relation, a trough having abase and side walls, 1n which said belts are adapted to travel, forconveying sheet material intermediate said belts and trough, said basebeing cut away to form an elongated aperture between said end rollers,and means extending through sa d'aperture for conveying aid sheetmaterial from one belt to the other.

15. A conveyer for sheet mater1al compr sing two endless belts havingend rollers (llS- posed side by side in spaced relation, a trough havinga base and side walls in which said belts are adapted to travel, forconveying sheet material. intermediate said belts and trough, said basebeing cut away hetween said end rollers to form an elongated aperture,and an auxiliary belt extending through said aperture for conveying saidsheet material from one belt section to another, said side wallsadjacent said aperture being bent substantially into'the plane of theauxiliary belt. a

16. A conveyor for sheet material comprising a trough having a base andoutwardly extending side walls, a roller disposed at one end of saidtrough, the side walls of said trough extending beyond said baselongitudinally of the trough and projecting along each end of theroller, within the periphery thereof, a'belt disposed in said troughbetween said side walls and passing partially around said roller, andmeans for introducing sheet material into said conveyor between saidbelt and roller, whereby said material will be carried into said troughbeneath said belt, said means comprising a second conveyor having anoutlet adjacent the junction of the belt and roller.

17. A conveyer for sheet material comprising a trough having a base andoutwardly extending sides, a belt disposed in said trough and adapted totravel in frictional contact with said base for conveying sheet materialalong the trough, said belt extend ing longitudinally beyond the end ofsaid base, and a second belt extending parallel to and in contact withsaid extended portion of the first mentioned belt, whereby sheetmaterial discharged from the end of said trough will pass in betweensaid contacting belts.

18. A conveyer for sheet material comprising a air of trough sections,an endless belt in eac trough section in frictional contact therewith,meansfor introducing sheet material between one of said belts and troughsections, said trough sections being in longi tudinal alignment andspaced apart, and each of said belts extending beyond the spaced ends ofsaid trough sections in fric tional contact with each other, wherebysaid sheet material may be conveyed from one trough section to theother,

Sll

llll) lid a pair of trough sections, each having in a base and outwardlydiverging sides, an endless belt in each trough section in fric" tionalcontact therewith, means for introducing sheet material between one ofsaid belts and one of said trough sections, said trough sections beingin' longitudinal alignment and spaced apart with the diverg ing sides ofone trough reversed with respect to those of the other, each of saidbelts extending beyond the spaced ends of the trough sections infrictional contact with each other, whereby said sheet material may beconveyed from one trough section to the other with its position reversedrelative to said trough sections. 20. A conveyer for sheet materialcompris Lilli ing a stationary trough, a belt, adapted to travel in saidtrough, the interior surface of the trough being free from obstructions,whereby said sheet material may be conveyed intermediate said belt andtrough by frictional. engagement withthe belt, said belt,

at spaced intervals, having means on its contactmg surface for engagingsaid sheet material to moveit-through said trough.

21. A drag conveyer for sheet material comprising a stationarylongitudinally extending support havingfla nges extending along thesides thereof and a belt supported upon said support and adapted totravel in frictional contact therewith for conveying sheet materialintermediate the belt and support by friction with the belt, saidflanges engaging said sheet material to maintain the sides thereof outof the plane of the belt.

' 22. A drag conveyer comprising a stationary longitudinally extendingsupport having a belt adapted to travel on said support in frictionalcontact therewith, whereby sheet material may be conveyed intermediatethe prising a stationary support a belt arranged to travel on saidsupport in frictional contact therewith for conveying sheet materialbetween the belt and support by friction with the belt, the transversecross section of said support, beneath the belt, being of non-planiformshape.

'25. A conveyer for sheet material comprising a trough, a rollerdisposed at one end of said trough, a belt disposed in said trough andpassing partially around said roller, and means for introducingv sheetmaterial into said conveyer between the belt and roller whereby saidmaterial will be carried into said trough beneath said belt, said meanscomrising a chute having an outlet adjacent the uncti on' of the beltand roller; 7

26. A drag conveyer comprising'a stationary support member and anendless traveling member supported thereon and adapted to travel infrictional contact therewith, whereby sheet material may beconveyedbetween said members, said members cooperating with each other and beingso shaped as to cause said sheet material to assume a non-planiformshape transversely of said support.

27. A drag conveyer comprising a stationary longitudinally extendingsupporting member and an endless traveling member supported thereon andadapted to travel in frictional contact therewith, one of said membersbeing of substantially trough shape, whereby sheet material interposedbetween 29. A drag conveyer for sheet material such as telegram blanks,comprising a stationary longitudinally extending support, having a widthmaterially less than said sheet material, a belt ada ted to travel incontact with said support or conveying sheet material between the beltand support by frictional engagement with the belt, rollers around whichsaid belt passes and means intermediate said rollers for preventing saidsheet material from shifting laterally with respect to said support.

30. A drag conveyer for sheet material, such as telegram blanks,comprising a stationary longitudinally extending support, having a widthmaterially less than said sheet material, a belt adapted to travel incontact with said support for conveying sheet material between the beltand support by frictional engagement with the belt, rollers around whichsaid belt asses and means intermediate said rollers or guiding said beltalong the support. p

31. A conveyer for sheet material comprising an endless conveyer beltanda stationary longitudinally extending sup ort 'for said belt, saidsupport having si e flanges arranged to guide the belt upon the supportand said members will be carried along the stationary member in anon-planiform shape.

said support being of a width less than that of the material to beconveyed whereby the sides of said material will extend outwardly oversaid flanges.

32. A drag conveyer for sheet material of at least a predeterminedwidth, comprising a stationary longitudinally extending sup port, a beltarranged to travel in contact with said support for conveying said sheetmaterial between the belt and support, said sup port being of a widthmaterially less than said predetermined width of the sheet materialwhereby the sides of said material extend outwardly a substantialdistance beyond said an port. V

n testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

" *FERNAND E. DHUMY.

BUCE BEARDSLEY. ALEXANDER PLAUSICS.

tea

